{"product_id":"a-dry-scary-blue-2","title":"A Dry Scary Blue","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Dry Scary Blue\u003c\/strong\u003e is Austin-based math professor and troubadour \u003cstrong\u003eSean Keel's\u003c\/strong\u003e debut commercial release, a collection of raw, starkly evocative emotionally complex songs in the \u003cem\u003eTownes van Zandt\u003c\/em\u003e tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe record, a collaboration with multi-talented producer \u003cstrong\u003eGabriel Rhodes\u003c\/strong\u003e, might remind you a little of \u003cem\u003eTom Waits\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLeonard Cohen\u003c\/em\u003e, even \u003cem\u003eFlannery O'Connor\u003c\/em\u003e; but really, if you've heard anything that punches at this weight and sounds a whole lot like it, it probably means someone more mainstream (a very easy standard) had the good luck to hear \u003cstrong\u003eKeel\u003c\/strong\u003e and the good sense to rip him off.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKeel\u003c\/strong\u003e is not your ordinary outsider. Nearly 60, the long-time University of Texas professor, is well-known in the world of research mathematics. But this record will be his first blip on the pop-culture radar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Dry Scary Blue\u003c\/strong\u003e introduces a distinctive, wholly individual singer-songwriter who, despite living in a legendary roots-music mecca, has honed his craft far from the public eye. \u003cstrong\u003eKeel's\u003c\/strong\u003e raw, evocative compositions invoke a long and honoured tradition of iconoclastic, emotionally complex Texas songwriters, while never sounding remotely like anyone else.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Dry Scary Blue\u003c\/strong\u003e is a series of story songs set in the bent-down beauty of \u003cstrong\u003eKeel's\u003c\/strong\u003e beloved Texas hill country, or the Minnesota farmland of his youth, and suffused throughout by the slow ache of beautiful things fading away. They're matched by spare, rough-edged arrangements that drive his lyrics home. \u003cstrong\u003eKeel's\u003c\/strong\u003e words have genuine power. In this business exaggeration is the norm. It is difficult to overstate the beauty of these songs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe producer is the multi-talented \u003cstrong\u003eGabriel Rhodes\u003c\/strong\u003e. The son of famed singer \u003cem\u003eKimmie Rhodes\u003c\/em\u003e and step-son of the influential DJ \u003cem\u003eJoe Gracey\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eGabe\u003c\/strong\u003e is alt-country royalty, having worked with a wide assortment of artists including \u003cem\u003eWillie Nelson\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWaylon Jennings\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eEmmylou Harris\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Icons Creating Evil Art","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50452233716043,"sku":"2002124","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50452233814347,"sku":"2002125","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ICEACD353_85f1410c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727144764","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/products\/a-dry-scary-blue-2","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}